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[EDITOR'S NOTE: At the NCTE Annual Convention in 2003,1 noted that more teachers were asking each other for specific information about literacy coaches. I talked with Kathy Egawa, then an associate executive director for NCTE (and the person who could always most easily answer any question I had about teaching in the middle school) if she'd be interested in writing a column for VM about literacy coaching. She said yes and then added that she wanted three outstanding teachers/coaches writing it with her: Marsha, Tracy, and LeAnne. Their column, the Coaches' Corner, began appearing exactly at the time that more teachers and administrators were questioning how to use literacy coaches in middle schools. While I wish they had been writing for VM longer, the reality is they appeared at exactly the right time. They close their column with this article that provides solid direction about literacy coaching.]
When we began this column two years ago, the idea of literacy coaching was just beginning to gain popularity. It is now red-hot. Reading coaches, literacy coaches, and instructional coaches are being hired in almost all schools across the nation.
The roles of coaches, the support they receive, and the rapport they are able to gain with teachers during instructional sessions, however, varies dramatically. The multiple definitions, descriptions, and support relating to coaching concern us, especially as coaching continues to move from elementary into middle and high schools. We fear that coaching will go the way of whole language, multiage classrooms, and developmentally appropriate practice where misunderstandings and a lack of systematically reported data on student impact prevented their widespread implementation.
Over the past two years, we have talked with many coaches and administrators, reviewed the literature that is available about coaching, begun to collect data on student outcomes, and visited coaching sessions-some effective, some less effective. As we end our term as editors and contributors to "From the Coaches' Corner," we reflect on some of the major understandings and concerns we have related to reflective coaching in middle and high schools.
Effective Coaches Have Clearly Defined Job Descriptions
As the notion of literacy coaches has increased in popularity, districts are hiring for a job that often hasn't before existed in a school. In the best situations, a...